Tech Bitch

Corel bought DVD software maker InterVideo for $196m (£125m) at the back end of 2006, thus becoming owner of the leading DVD and video playback software on the PC (over 200 million copies shipped). InterVideo has been a major player in PC DVD software market for years now and its most famous product is its DVD player application, WinDVD. The company also develops a variety of other DVD-related products, including DVD backup software called DVD Copy and DVD creation program called WinDVD Creator. So has changing hands altered WinDVD in any way? Yes, it has actually, and in a totally positive way.

WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray (£65/$99) features a new, sleeker Windows Media Player-like user interface, new video technologies including advanced upscaling that enables near-high-definition viewing with standard-definition DVDs, enhanced Blu-ray Disc playback (also supports HD DVDs) up to 1080p, as well as the latest in high-definition surround sound. This is all good news because WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray is designed for the demanding movie buff and not the casual trans-Atlantic commuter.

The new ‘Graphite’ user interface looks spiffy and makes viewing and navigation easier. And because it has been de-cluttered the whole package looks cleaner and is more intuitive. Corel has been busy behind the scenes too, with a range of impressive features that help to improve both picture and audio quality. In particular, WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray does an impressive job of converting standard-definition DVDs and videos to near-high-definition video without the added expense of high-definition drives and media. There’s also technology that removes digital noise from MPEG, H.264 and VC-1 low-resolution video to provide clearer images, in addition to removing the judder effect from fast-motion scenes for smoother playback.

Full BD-J support means the software is ready for next-generation Blu-ray interactivity including pop-up menus and picture-in-picture - all without interrupting the movie - and support for HDCP, AACS and BD+ content protection systems means you shouldn’t have any problems playing your original discs. Furthermore, WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray supports playback of video from AVCHD camcorders copied from the camcorder hard disk drive, on AVCHD disc or memory card.

It’s great to see that Corel hasn’t neglected laptop users, especially as a growing range of machines from the likes of Dell and Sony are now being offered with integrated Blu-ray drives. WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray optimises the on-the-go movie viewing experience with a TimeStretch utility that increases video and audio playback speed so you don’t miss the end of a movie while travelling. Smart Stretch provides standard or widescreen viewing for varying movie and laptop types, and there’s even support for virtual surround sound technologies even when listening on headphones and stereo speakers.

WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray is an excellent all-rounder. Its new video and audio standards, such as nVidia’s PureVideo HD, ATI’s Avivo, Intel’s Clear Video processing technologies, Advanced Video Codec High Definition (AVCHD) recording format, and Trimension All2HD advanced upscaling technology all do a great job, and the addition of DTS 96/24 decoding to provide a 96KHz sampling rate where available (in place of the 48KHz standard) is also welcome.

Whereas some might prefer the traditional interface and stability of CyberLink’s PowerDVD 8 Ultra (£65/$99), WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray is definitely the current champ. Having said that it’s not without its faults. Most noticeable is that you can’t select WinDVD 9 for playing only some video and audio file formats, as it does not use file associations. This means you can’t designate it as your default player for MPEG-2 HD and use something else for MOV and WAV files. Also, load times for movies stored on your HDD are long. Still, while it’s not entirely perfect, Corel has a winner on its hands - at least until the next release of PowerDVD. [9]

Conflict: Denied Ops is the fifth instalment in the enjoyable Conflict series. Available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC (reviewed here), Pivotal Games’ two player co-op FPS (first-person shooter) doesn’t break any new ground, but it is a blast.

The game (£17.93/$36.99) is set in today’s volatile political climate and focuses on two stereotyped agents from the CIA’s Special Activities Division (SAD) - one’s a whipper snapper and the other a grizzly cynic. They’re both experts in weapons and military tactics, which definitely helps. Reggie Lang is a machine gun operator who uses an M249 PARA with an undermounted M203 grenade launcher, and Lincoln Graves is a former Marine and sniper who uses an SR-25 with an undermounted M26 MASS. As you can image, there’s often a clash in personalities which leads to many amusing quips.

The game is played in a first person perspective, unlike the third person viewpoint of the four preceding titles, and is also the first game in the Conflict series which does not feature four main characters. In single player mode you can switch between controlling each agent. In co-op, each player controls one agent. The agents only use their weapon of choice, and cannot pick up enemy weapons. Ammunition for firearms is unlimited, but explosives are not and must be replenished at resupply boxes found throughout the levels you play your levels in Africa, Siberia and South America.

Their (your) mission is to prevent a third-world dictatorship from gaining nuclear weapons; a mission which takes you across three continents and pits you against the scumbags who control the nuclear arms smuggling trade. The crux of the game, however, is the ability to switch seamlessly, at any point, between these two operatives to lay down covering fire, explore diverging paths through the levels, create distractions and pin the enemy under fire. Besides offering two types of gameplay (stealth and assault), swapping between characters is essential in most levels in order to progress. The way you switch characters is pretty cool too, with the camera following the trail back/forward to the other player - a neat touch.

Making full use of Pivotal’s Puncture Technology, Conflict: Denied Ops features a highly destructible environment, allowing you to shoot through walls to create sniping holes or blast through crates and boxes to take the enemy by surprise. There are plenty of highly explosive structures and gas canisters to destroy too, and there’s nothing more gratifying than taking out a wave of advancing forces with a single shot. As an added bonus the explosions are loud and can be outrageously huge, which totally doesn’t go unappreciated.

Conflict: Denied Ops is a simple and enjoyable shooter for the casual gamer. Gameplay is rudimentary and fans of Army of Two and Rainbow Six Vegas will laugh at the co-op, but if you grab it for a bargain and don’t take it too seriously, it could be a great fix for a wet weekend. The sound effects are loud and the music is fully interactive (reacting to your movements), but the graphics and physics are dated compared to the likes of COD 4 and Gears of War. But if you’re not bothered about unoriginal and generic gameplay, there’s no reason not to enjoy Conflict: Denied Ops. [6.5]

The DX7400 is Epson’s mid-range all-in-one. There are much better machines if money isn’t an issue, but if you’re value driven the dark grey-blue DX7400 is worth considering as it features Epson’s excellent DURABrite Ultra individual inks, memory card slots and PictBridge direct printing. Print quality isn’t too bad either and it’s a snap to use, though if you’re looking for a machine for your home office you will miss the lack of a built-in fax, optional ADF (Automatic Document Feeder), and even Ethernet.

Epson pitches the Stylus DX7400 (£49/$64) at the home and small office user, offering a complete printing and copying solution. But as we’ve already mentioned above, it lacks a few core features necessary for a work machine. It does allow you to make colour photographs on the flatbed scanner independently of your computer, but it really comes down to your individual needs and what you need to get from an all-in-one.

The Stylus DX7400 is primarily a 4-colour inkjet printer featuring Epson’s DURABrite Ultra Ink. It offer relatively fast print speeds of up to 32ppm in draft mode and it takes just 26 seconds to print a 4×6-inch photograph in draft, borderless mode. However, bump up the quality settings and you might as well put the kettle on - text documents drop to around 16ppm and an A4 photo will take a staggering 5 minutes. If you’re keen on digital photography, you may want to look at the slightly more expensive DX8400 (£99.99) which sports a 2.5-inch LCD viewer.

The printer is equipped with an improved Epson Micro Piezo print head. It features a new printing mechanism that increases the rate at which ink droplets can be ejected from the nozzles, resulting in faster printing for all document types without a sacrifice on quality But Epson’s DURABrite Ultra Ink is the star of the show. It’s a pigment-based ink technology that encapsulates each pigment particle in a protective resin coating. This makes the ink resistant to water, smudging and fading - useful for busy families. The resin and pigment particle have also been optimised to offer higher gloss photos when printing on glossy media and sharper laser-like text for printing documents, but you’ll still need quality Epson inkjet paper to get the best results.

Physical controls consist of a total of eight buttons arranged down the left-hand side of the machine, along with five status LEDs and a larger display that shows a single number for the amount of copies to be produced. There are two memory card slots on the front left edge as well as a PictBridge socket. As there is no LCD display, printing from the camera cards requires you to print a thumbnail page first - so hardly quick, convenient or economical.

Epson’s easy-to-use and feature-rich Creativity Suite software is included to manage, file and print photos. The interface makes it easy to access images from a range of devices such as a digital camera or scanner, while Epson’s Easy Photo Print makes it simple to remove red-eye if you don’t want to use your regular image-editing software. Epson’s PhotoEnhance software is also bundled and automatically detects skin tones, landscapes and skylines to give the best colour settings for high-quality photos. Again, advanced digital imagers will likely stick to manipulating photographs in Photoshop, but at least the features are there for less experienced users or those trying to minimise the complexities of printing high quality photos.

With a 1200ppi flatbed scanner it is easy to make PC-independent copies or scan using your computer. Epson’s Easy Photo Fix software helps to restore colour, remove dust and correct backlight on faded or old scanned photos, and ABBYY’s FineReader OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software allows you to edit scan text. Unfortunately, unlike the company’s Perfection V500 Photo (£180), the Stylus DX7400 doesn’t feature Epson’s awesome hardware-based Digital ICE Technology to remove dust and scratches from colour films.

The Epson Stylus DX7400 would make a decent addition to a home or small office user looking for an affordable machine to meet general printing, scanning and copying needs. There are much more powerful and capable all-in-ones on the market if you intend to print high quality photographs or scans, but the DX7400 is unquestionably good value. There’s no fax or wireless print options, but again this is reflected in the price. In addition, the individual ink cartridges are also cost effective to operate as you only have to replace each colour that is used, though these do cost around £5 each (£20 for a full set). [6.5]